Classroom Activities
Writing Activities
My Story
Students are encouraged to reflect through out this unit and what they chose to reflect upon is up to them. Intertwined with the passages they read of The Best We Could Do, student will be asked to pause and connect with their own experiences. Each writing exercise will correspond to a different moment in the story that students can clearly relate to their own experiences: the family’s decision to leave Vietnam, the rough journey on the boat, and adjusting to life in the United States. Following reading these portions of the graphic novel students will complete one final writing and art making exercise as they envision their future. Each of the four writing experiences will follow similar steps encouraging students to visit the past, present, or future. What may seem like repetition can actually help guide English Learners to understand new vocabulary, grammar, and content concepts better. Each time students are asked to write they will also be encouraged to draw, paint, or collage an illustration to accompany their writing. As they are reflecting and creating, students will be encouraged to consider vivid sensory images: a smell, a taste, a sound, a physical feeling, or something they saw to enrich their writing and illustrations.
Grammar: Past, Present, Future Tense Verbs
Verb tense can be very confusing for English Learners. In my art classes I’ve found some of the biggest confusion is linked to the fact that many of the verbs we use are also nouns. For example, the word brush is a noun referring to a tool to apply paint with, and brush is also a verb when we are using it to apply paint. My attempts have brought me to explicitly pre-teaching anticipated new verbs in my classes. I follow some best practices for pre-teaching vocabulary, create a physical poster to hang on our wall, and refer back to it and word to text connections constantly so that students are immersed in practicing using that new verb. It takes a lot of practice, so I tend to limit new verbs. For this unit, I anticipate that many new verbs for students to master will come from the text of The Best We Could Do in addition to verbs they generate once they begin writing.
Grammar Pronoun Use
Students will immerse themselves in pronoun use activities as they play matching games in small groups and in teams as a whole class, in addition to partner activities. These exercises will encourage students to select the appropriate pronoun for different contexts and practice speaking and writing sentences using pronouns.
Editing Writing and electing passages to record and illustrate
Upon completing writing exercises that focus on the past, present, and future. Students will select three writings that they want to edit, record, and illustrate in their culminating mobile project. As a way of deepening student understanding of pronoun use, students will be encouraged to think flexibly about these editing exercises and to consider rewriting their original text to reflect a change in voice. For example when writing about their future, a student could write from the perspective of their future child who is addressing them and their experience.
Read, Record, Listen, Re-record
Reading texts aloud is a valuable practice to support students who are developing their reading comprehension skills. To hear proper pronunciation and tone can help students not only build their comprehension of content, but for ELLs, it can also help with English language development. Throughout this unit, students will hear teachers and peers read texts aloud, but they must also hear themselves reading aloud. Using smartphones and voice recorders students will record themselves reading three passages they have written and edited. In addition to perfecting their pronunciation, fluency, and volume student will learn what makes a technically strong recording with regard to clarity, sound quality, and background noise. Upon achieving quality recordings of their three written passages, students will upload their recordings onto a laptop and transfer their recording onto a sound chip via a USB drive. The sound chip will ultimately be imbedded within their culminating mobile project.
Art-Making Activities
Material Exploration: Wire
Students will explore how wire bends, moves, and how to change the shape of wire by making simple constructions. Once students understand how to manipulate wire, a teacher led demonstration on how to connect pieces of wire together will take place.
Material Exploration: Fabric
Students will examine how fabric can be deconstructed, cut, and reshaped as they learn how to sew and stuff fabric to create depth. As needed, a teacher will lead demonstrations on cutting and stitching techniques will guide students understanding of ways to manipulate fabric.
Imbedding Sound Recordings
Upon creating quality digital recordings of themselves reading, students will transfer their digital files via USB to a recordable sound chip. Students will choose how their recording will play on the sound chip. For example different recordable sound chips can be activated through touch, motion sensor, or light sensor. As they are selecting their sound chip, students will consider how they want a viewer to interact with their mobile. After transferring their recording onto the sound chip, students will select a location for the chip to be attached on their mobile.
Culminating Project: Narrative Mobile
Students will draw upon all aspects of their writing and art-making experiences to create a three tier mobile that reflects images and stories from their past, present, and future. The mobile will consist of three tree branches that are hung together with fishing line. The branches will be balanced and allow for fluid movement. Upon each branch are images or textures that reflect different moments in a student’s story. Images and textures can be created with wire, fabric, or paper. Students will consider the geometry of the shapes they are constructing as well as balancing the weight of their materials. In addition to the physical construction of their mobile, students will need to think carefully about where and how they will imbed a sound chip that contains recording of them reading their story aloud.
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